Hogwarts: A History
by Unclebulgaria5
Summary: I know other people have tried it before, but I thought I'd try and write Hogwarts: A History for myself.
1. Contents

**Contents**

Introduction

Chapter One: The Four Founders

Chapter Two: Life at Hogwarts: Medieval Times

Chapter Three: Life at Hogwarts: 1600-1800

Chapter Four: Life at Hogwarts: 1800-2000

Chapter Five: Exploring Hogwarts and its Grounds 

Chapter Six: Denizens of Hogwarts

Chapter Seven: The Forbidden Forest

Chapter Eight: Secrets of Hogwarts

Chapter Nine: Hogsmeade: A History


	2. Introduction

**Introduction – **

Of all the magical locations in Britain and Ireland, none are as spectacular as Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and its surrounding environs. It is also one of the most well-known locations, as virtually all of us (including myself) have been taught all that we now know there. However, it still remains a mysterious place, with the rooms and staircases moving around more often than Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers are replaced. I have therefore taken it upon myself to detail the history of Hogwarts, right from its earliest days to its recent history.

Not long after I completed _A History of Magic _(which, may I slip in, is a thoroughly good read and details our wizarding history), I became interested in one particular chapter of that book, _The History of Hogwarts_, and decided to expand upon it and create an entire book from it. At first, I was slightly apprehensive about the task at hand, as I didn't know if there was enough history at Hogwarts to fill a book. I soon realised, though, that I could have filled dozens of books with the things that have occurred at Hogwarts over its centuries of existence.

However, it was hard researching it all. I knew quite a bit about it myself, having attended several years before, but I would be foolish to think I knew every secret about the castle. Indeed, there are very few who know everything about Hogwarts, and to conduct my research, I questioned what must have been hundreds of ex-students, teachers, current students, ghosts, portraits of dead headmasters and an annoying poltergeist, who told me that Hogwarts had been created by Urg the Goblin in the thirteenth century before upturning a large vase on my head. Suffice to say, it was not easy. Many reports contradicted themselves (for example, a Weather-Modifying Charm that went awry could not have created the lake in the grounds in the seventeenth, as one ex-student so vehemently claimed, for the merpeople have been there for many hundreds of years) and others were blatantly false (one student informed me that the giant squid in the lake was actually a student who had been Transfigured for using one of the Unforgivable Curses at lunchtime).

My first edition of _Hogwarts: A History _was published in 1962, though multiple editions have been published since then. The original book concentrated only on the castle and its immediate grounds, but I have since expanded to detail the Forbidden Forest, Hogsmeade Village and any new secrets that I may come across. For example, until recently, I knew next to nothing about the kitchens at Hogwarts, and did not know that house elves made the food (rest assured, though, it is included in this edition), and nor did I know of the legend (or, rather, the truth) behind the Chamber of Secrets until a few months ago.

Do not think this is the definitive edition, though. Hogwarts castle is such a mysterious and enchanting place that new passageways and secret room are likely to be cropping up for many more years to come. But, until the next edition, I present you with _Hogwarts: A History_, and hope to enjoy it.

Bathilda Bagshot 


	3. Chapter 1: The Four Founders

**Chapter One – **

**The Four Founders**

Magic, as everyone knows, has existed for thousands of years and can be traced back to at least the Ancient Egyptians, who used simple magical spells to protect their tombs within the pyramids (for a detailed look at this period of wizarding history, see _A History of Magic, Chapter One: Ancient Magic_). However, for a long time, the early witches and wizards of the world had nowhere to learn spells, more of which were being created every day. Parents often taught their children what they knew, but if _their _knowledge were limited, they wouldn't be able to pass on a great deal to their children. It was also unlikely that the parents would know much about the various magical creatures that share our world, and therefore their children would know just a little; this can be dangerous, especially when it is necessary to learn how to repel certain dark creatures such as a Manticore.

Therefore, over the years, only the most wealthy and powerful witches and wizards were able to live their lives to the fullest. After all, they were unlikely to die because they didn't know the spell to repel a Nundu or because they didn't know how to escape from an angry crowd of Muggles eager to kill you. This trend continued for hundreds of years, but just over a thousand years ago (exact time unknown, circa 1000 A.D), four wizards and witches came together to create a magical school where children of all wealth and background could study magic together in safety.

First and foremost was Godric Gryffindor, whose tales of killing a Welsh Green dragon with his legendary sword had made him famous. He conversed with the three other most powerful witches and wizards of the time all around the British Isles, and found they had a common goal: to create a school of magic. Therefore, Godric Gryffindor and the three others, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin, tried to make their dream a reality. Of course, they had problems right from the start, including where to build their magical school.

Slytherin wanted the school built in southern England, where he had been born, but the other three knew that was foolish; there was a high concentration of Muggles there, and they didn't want them to disturb their magical school. Therefore, the four founders chose a place where Muggles were unlikely to stumble across: the isolated highlands of Scotland, Rowena Ravenclaw's home. Thus, the magical school, which soon became known as Hogwarts, was born.

**Humble Beginnings**

Hogwarts a thousand years ago was nowhere near as grandiose or as spectacular as it is today, nor was it as large (rooms and towers were added over the centuries), but it was nonetheless a magnificent building, few of which existed at the time. There were only a few floors, not as many subjects and, of course, Quidditch was not played since it had barely even come into existence at this point. However, there are several rooms that were created a thousand years ago that exist even to this day (although they have been changed and refurbished many times since). The Great Hall is such a room, though at the time of Hogwart's founding, it contained only one large table for the students (the houses did not exist yet) and a smaller table for the founders and the other teachers. However, even in the earliest days, the ceiling of the Great Hall was enchanted to reflect the weather outside – a little addition created by Hufflepuff, who was quite good at such charms.

The dungeons, of course, existed but they were not used to teach; instead, they were used to punish students who misbehaved. Salazar Slytherin was said to spend much of his time down here, since he apparently dished out the majority of the punishments (the other three founders were much more understanding). The kitchens, also, have existed since Hogwart's earliest histories, and, according to some reports, have also employed house elves to cook their food, although there were a lot fewer than exist today. Helga Hufflepuff apparently also worked in the kitchens quite a lot since she was quite adept at food-related Charms and had a lot of input on what food was to be served during mealtimes. Indeed, many of the recipes still served in Hogwarts to this day was thought up by Hufflepuff all those years ago.

The lessons taught at Hogwarts a thousand years ago were much simpler than those taught today. Students were taught how to perform spells and how to brew potions, and that was usually it. Only as the years progressed did more subjects start to appear, and the castle was forced to expand to accommodate the increasing number of rooms, as well as the increasing number of students, since the magical community was growing and more had learned about Hogwarts. Many of the students that attended Hogwarts later went on to achieve great things in the wizarding world, such as discover new potions or spells, or even found new branches of magic; such wizards or witches were often later painted and their portraits placed around the castle when they had died so that, even after death, a part of them would still linger inside Hogwarts.

**Fall Out of the Founders**

Although the four founders co-existed peacefully for several decades, they started to reach disagreements after a while when they started to realise they wanted different things for their students. Gryffindor and Slytherin had been great friends up until this point, but their friendship began to decay when they put forward their different views. Gryffindor, who was well known for his courage and bravery (he had not only defeated a rogue Welsh Green, but many other magical creatures such as giants), wished to teach likeminded students, those who had brave deeds to their name. Salazar, who was no braver than Fulbert the Fearful (who lived at the same time and was too cowardly to even leave his house), thought that this was highly unfair. However, _his _method of selecting students was just as unfair; he wanted to choose students of only pure bloodline, for he saw only them fit to learn magic and pass it on. Godric, who was fond of half-bloods and Muggle-borns, scoffed at the idea, and a rivalry started to brew between them.

However, Gryffindor and Slytherin were not the only ones who had different opinions. Soon, Rowena Ravenclaw joined in the argument and disagreed with both Godric and Salazar, stating only the most intelligent should be allowed to learn magic, for she was inarguable the most intelligent of the four founders. Naturally, the others resisted her efforts to include only the most intelligent, and in her annoyance, Rowena drastically altered Hogwarts castle, creating the ever-changing floorplan that the school is famous for today. She proclaimed now that only the most intelligent of students would be able to learn anything with the layout constantly changing. Gryffindor managed to stop the stairs and rooms moving about as much as Ravenclaw had envisioned, but could not dispel the enchantment completely. Hufflepuff, meanwhile, tried to reconcile the other three founders by saying everyone should be accepted, but the others took little notice of her.

The founders realised that a compromise had to be made, though, and so the four houses were born. The houses, named after the four founders, would be Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Only the bravest of heart and most courageous would be made a Gryffindor; only the most intelligent were made Ravenclaws, and only the most cunning and ambitious (and, preferable, only pure bloods) would by made a Slytherin. Those that were loyal, patient and determined, or could not be fit anywhere else, were put in the Hufflepuff house. Whenever it became difficult for a student to be placed in a house, Gryffindor's magical hat (later known as the Sorting Hat) was used to see the inner feelings of the students and pick the house most suited for them. In later years, the Sorting Hat was used to sort every student, even if their virtues were already clear.

Due to this separation, the large table in the Great Hall was split into four house tables, and house dormitories were created for the four different houses. Salazar created Slytherin's common room and dormitories in the very depths of the castle where he preferred to reside, beneath the lake itself; Godric and Rowena made their common room and dormitories in the topmost part of the castle, creating specific towers for themselves; Helga, meanwhile, who was scared of heights and preferred to be close to the kitchens, made her common room and dormitories on the ground floor. The four founders became the heads of their houses, but trouble, although it had been temporarily quelled, did not cease completely. Indeed, the tensions between the four houses often reached breaking point, as one student from the eleventh century, wrote in his diary:

_Today, Goodwin used a Limb-Switching Hex on Gregory from Slytherin, and he fell over, his legs having been replaced with arms. Gregory's gang leapt towards us, and I was forced to brandish my wand and hit Rivers with a Trip Jinx so he couldn't go squealing to Salazar. Then Zacharias from Ravenclaw got involved, and there were hexes ricocheting off the walls; the portraits were protesting; the poltergeist was egging everyone on; someone introduced a couple of imps into the fray and everyone was falling over them in the confusion; someone had bewitched a suit of armour to bash me over the head; Zacharias tried to Transfigure Goodwin into a slug, but it accidentally hit Madam Rudford and she sprouted antennae and started producing slime. Godric arrived and tried to stop the trouble, but Rowena turned him into a pumpkin and whispered into Zacharias' ear how to perform a Leg-Entangling Curse on a passing Helga Hufflepuff. I managed to escape before I suffered severe damage. _

The school, at that time, had not Headmaster or Headmistress, so peace could not easily be restored. Most unhappy of all, however, was Slytherin. He was not content with having only one house of pure bloods; he wanted the entire school to be pureblood (or, at the very least, half-bloods – he despised Muggle-borns). He tried to enforce this idea many times, but this became one thing Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff agreed on – students from any background were allowed into Hogwarts. Therefore, Slytherin devised a plan to ensure that Hogwarts would one day become a Muggle-born free castle.

Deep below the castle, he created a chamber that would one day be known as the Chamber of Secrets. Within the chamber, he hid a basilisk that he had bred, a large snake-like creature that had the ability to kill anyone who looked directly into its eyes. Since Slytherin was one of the first recorded Parselmouths (that is, he could talk the snakes), he was able to control the basilisk. He daren't unleash the basilisk upon the school whilst the other founders lived there, for he knew their wrath would be great. Therefore, he sealed the chamber, intending it to be opened only when his descendant came to Hogwarts and used their inherited Parselmouth ability to open the Chamber and free the basilisk, which would then purge the school of all Slytherin saw unfit to study magic – in other words, Muggle-borns. The other founders knew nothing of this, of course.

Salazar, meanwhile, could take no more. Furious with the amount of Muggle-borns being admitted into Hogwarts, he had a huge argument with Gryffindor and finally stormed from the school in disgust, never to return. With Slytherin gone, however, a tentative peace settled over the castle once again. The other three founders started to work more closely and without the constant arguments. Ravenclaw wished to disband the Slytherin house and distribute its students into the other three houses, but Gryffindor decided to keep it in memory of the man who had once been his best friend.

The four founders led long lives and (with the exception of Slytherin, of course) continued to teach until their deaths. Before they died, Heads of Houses were appointed to replaced them to lead their houses after their deaths. Salazar was the last to die, and wanted his son to inform his son, Alasdair Slytherin, about the Chamber of Secrets, but died before he was able to (legend has it he was impaled by an angry Graphorn) and Alasdair, though he was a Parselmouth, did not learn of the Chamber's existence and therefore could not open it and set free the basilisk within.


	4. Chapter 2: Hogwarts in Medieval Times

**Chapter Two – **

**Life at Hogwarts: Medieval Times**

With the four founders dead, a Headmaster was appointed to lead the school, the first being Damocles Philpott (from 1196-1274), who set about many rules that are still in place today. For example, he created the house point system and the House Cup, whereby the house that got the most house points during the school year would be awarded at the end of it. However, more stringent rules had to be enforced in the castle as members of opposing houses tried to stop the other houses from earning house points by cursing them in the corridors or pushing them off the Astronomy Tower. Punishments were handed out to those who did such things, which usually involved being hung from the dungeons by your thumbs.

At one point, the forest at the edge of the castle grounds was allowed to be entered by the students in their free time, but after a student called a centaur a 'filthy half-breed' and was killed by one of their arrows, it became forbidden to all students. Each houses' common room became off-bounds to other houses after they started sneaking into each other's common rooms and rubbing troll faeces around the rooms, and passwords had to come into effect. A few new rooms and passageways were added to Hogwarts in medieval times, but by then, it started to resemble the castle that everyone knows today. The Headmaster's Office was created by Damocles, and later became used by every Headmaster or Headmistress Hogwarts has had since then.

Up until the 1200s, students had reached Hogwarts through Side-Along Apparition or on broomsticks. However, Side-Along Apparition proved to be quite unreliable, and after many parents and their children Apparated into the middle of the lake and nearly drowned, it was banned as a mode of transportation to Hogwarts. Travelling by brooms, though, was very time-consuming, especially for those who lived in the south of the British Isles. Therefore, after 1257, when Floo Powder was invented by Ignatia Wildsmith, travelling to Hogwarts via the Floo Network became the main way of transport. This is how the vast majority of Hogwarts students got to school until the introduction of the Hogwarts Express in the 1800s.

Damocles is also famous for tightening security around the castle. At this time, other wizarding schools were starting to spring up around Europe, and their founders kept Apparating into Hogwarts to learn its secrets and steal them for themselves. Furious, Damocles placed an Anti-Apparition Charm around the entire castle and its grounds to stop it from happening again. Another idea of Damocles was to place Anti-Muggle Charms on the castle to prevent Muggles from seeing Hogwarts for what it really was. This came about when a poor Muggle somehow managed to enter Hogwarts and wandered around before becoming stuck in a vanishing step on one of the staircases, where she remained for several days. Therefore, the Anti-Muggle Charms depicted a castle under siege from enemy ranks, prompting any Muggles who wandered too close to hastily leave. As the centuries past, and the days of castles and knights vanished, the Anti-Muggle Charm changed to depict a decrepit old castle that had fallen to ruin.

**The Triwizard Tournament**

In the thirteenth century, the Headmaster at the time, Everard Elfric (from 1274-1360) became friends with the Heads of two other magical schools in Europe, Beauxbatons Academy for Magic and Durmstrang Institute. The three heads decided to host a tournament, whereby one student, or champion, from each school would be chosen to represent their school and compete against the other two champions in a series of tasks and challenges. The first tournament was held at Hogwarts (the schools took it in turn to host it), and was an instant success. Though the details of the very first tournament are lost to legend, it is known that by the time Hogwarts was to host it again, students of every age scrambled to place their names inside the Goblet of Fire (created especially by Everard for the tournament) in the hope of becoming school champion.

However, the tasks were not created for first or second year witches or wizards and they often found themselves facing beasts they could not repel. The death toll mounted, especially during a particularly vicious Triwizard Tournament in 1360, where the three champions were to defeat a Hebridean Black dragon in turn. The Hogwarts champion, a second-year by the name of Almerick, tried (very foolishly) to defeat the dragon with a basic Water Charm, as described by one of the audience members:

_Bruno from Durmstrang managed to defeat his dragon by using a Reduction Charm and then a Banishing Charm, but then, he's much older than poor Almerick. He was trembling from head to foot as he stepped into the ring. He raised his wand – the audience held their breath – and he shouted, '_Aguamenti!' _He tried to direct the stream of water into the dragon's mouth, but he missed and sprayed Derwent in the audience. Well, as you can imagine, the dragon was not defeated; it breathed fire at Almerick and almost set him on fire. Then he panicked firing off curses and hexes everywhere – I had to duck as one came my head and turned Bruno's head into a watermelon. _

_I looked up to see Everard standing up. He strode out into the ring and cast a powerful Sleeping Spell on the dragon, causing it to collapse and go to sleep. But Almerick was still panicking. I heard him shout, _'Rictusempra!' – _the Tickling Charm. The dragon snorted and woke up immediately, roaring and setting fire to the stands. Well, as you can imagine, all hell broke out as everyone tried to escape; Derwent was trodden on by accident as I ran for the exit; Bruno couldn't see where he was going with a watermelon for a head; the dragon took to the sky and set fire to the vegetable patch… It took two hours for Everard and the other judges to finally calm the dragon down and send it back to sleep again, but by that time, there had been over three dozen deaths. Almerick was transfigured into an earthworm as punishment. _

The tournaments continued even though more deaths happened every time it was held. However, in light of the incident of the tournament of 1360, Cyprian Oldridge (the next Headmaster) devised a school motto: '_Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus_', which translates to 'Never tickle a sleeping dragon'.

**Famous Teachers and Students**

**Damocles Philpott (1162-1274, Headmaster from 1196-1274)**

When Godric Gryffindor died in the 1180s (no one when exactly), Hogwarts found that all of its founders had died and had no one to run it. Over the next few years, interviews took place to try and find a Headmaster or Headmistress for the school. Madam Rudford acted as temporary Headmistress until Damocles was found. Damocles was a descendant of the great Merlin himself and ran the school expertly for over seventy-five years. Damocles is famous for introducing many things to the school that still exist today, such as the Anti-Apparition Charm and the Muggle-Repelling Charms. However, despite this, he met a rather unfortunate (and quite amusing, some say) end. In 1274, Damocles attended a Quidditch match in Yorkshire, and featured a Golden Snidget (it had been introduced into the game five years before). However, the game went on into the early hours of the night, and as Damocles yawned, the poor and exhausted Snidget rushed into Damocles' mouth to seek refuge, ultimately choking the wizard.

**Everard Elfric (1241-1360, Headmaster from 1274-1360)**

Everard Elfric became the Headmaster of Hogwarts after poor Damocles had died. He had previously been a Charms teacher, but was quickly appointed as Headmaster (some say he bribed his way to the position). Everard was remembered for the sole reason that he and the current heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang introduced the Triwizard Tournament to the world, which was first hosted in 1345 at Hogwarts. After being hosted by Beauxbatons and then Durmstrang in 1350 and 1355 respectively, the tournament returned to Hogwarts in 1360. It was during the tournament, after the Black Hebridean dragon had began its rampage that Everard was killed; he attempted to use a Conjunctivitis Curse to stop the dragon, but in its blindness, the dragon accidentally ate Everard.

**Cyprian Oldridge (1320-1401, Headmaster from 1361-1401)**

Cyprian became the third Headmaster of Hogwarts. Though popular by students because he rarely punished students (in 1383, one student only received lines for feeding another to a Venomous Tentacula in Herbology), he had a hidden secret: he was, in fact, a Squib. Due to this, when he tried to use Floo Powder to reach London, he somehow ended up in Tibet and was mauled to death by a yeti.

**Gilford Ollerton (1373-1450, Headmaster from 1403-1450)**

When Cyprian disappeared and the school realised he had been a Squib all along, the next Headmaster was scrutinised much more closely (hence, there was a two year period during which the school found itself without a Headmaster or Headmistress). Gilford Ollerton was a very laid-back man and tried to appeal to the students by showing his inner child. However, when he went as far as placing his name in the Goblet of Fire during one of the Triwizard and yelling in joy when his name was called out to represent Hogwarts as its champion, he was sacked. He was killed by a Manticore in one of the tasks.

**Walter Kettlebridge (1410-1503, Headmaster from 1450-1502)**

Walter Kettlebridge was the first Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts, teaching the subject from 1430-1450. He was an Animagus, able to turn into a swordfish. He was appointed as Headmaster as soon as Gilford was sacked. Walter became concerned about the welfare of the students after some of them foolishly dived down to the bottom of the lake using Bubble-Head Charms and were held prisoner by the merpeople that lived there for several hours – they were only saved when Walter turned himself into a swordfish and swam down to help. Therefore, he levitated a giant squid from the ocean and dropped it into the lake, bewitching it so that it would help anyone who happened to fall in. in 1502, Walter started feeling ill and retired; he died less than a year later.

**Alberic Alderton (1473-1556, Headmaster from 1502-1556)**

Alberic Alderton is famous for being the only Headmaster with goblin blood in him, as well as enforcing rules upon Hogwarts that goblins would also be allowed to attend the school. At the time, goblins were allowed to use wands and so they happily accepted the invitation. However, some of the students were extremely wary about this decision, and the goblins started calling them rude names in their language of Gobbledegook. Alberic was mistaken for a goblin and killed by the serial goblin-killer, Yardley Platt.

**Havelock Hipsworth (1524-1600, Headmaster from 1556-1600)**

Havelock was the seventh Headmaster of Hogwarts. Havelock had the unpleasant task of clearing the school of all the goblins his predecessor had allowed to enter. However, after several failed attempts, and angry words from the portrait of Alberic Alderton, Havelock gave in and allowed the goblins to stay. He accidentally drank a poison in his stress after receiving many letters from parents worried about the presence of goblins at Hogwarts.

**Uric the Oddball (Dates unknown)**

Uric the Oddball (last name unknown) was one of the more peculiar students to walk through the doors of Hogwarts. He became extremely interested in magical creatures and was constantly laughed at for his tendency to walk around with a jellyfish on his head. Some of his later works involving magical creatures involved seeing if the cry of the Augurey really did foretell death (after days of hearing the cry, Uric assumed he had died and tried to walk through a wall, giving himself a concussion) and seeing if the song of the Fwooper (which drives its listener to insanity) was beneficial to one's health by listening to its non-stop for three months. Unfortunately, the Wizards' Council, to which he reported his findings, were unconvinced that the song was indeed beneficial, as he had arrived at the meeting wearing nothing but a toupee that on closer inspection turned out to be a dead badger. Some people blame the Fwooper's song to have been the cause of Uric's odd behaviour, but most claim he was like that before. Uric was thought to have been killed when he tried to make friends with a Ukrainian Ironbelly.

**Ignatia Wildsmith (1227-1320)**

Ignatia was a Ravenclaw when she attended Hogwarts, and when she left, invented Floo Powder in 1257, which enabled wizards and witches to get to places much faster than by broomstick. She died an old woman when she did not put out her magical fire (that is, fire with Floo Powder in it), allowing an Ashwinder to be born from the ashes. The Ashwinder then proceeded to lay eggs, whose intense heat burned down her house whilst she was sleeping, killing her.

**Royden Gryffindor (1354-1405)**

Royden was a descendant of Godric Gryffindor but surprised everyone by becoming a Ravenclaw. He inherited the family sword after his father died, but feeling he was unworthy of keeping it, he tried to sell it to some goblins. However, after he accidentally sliced off one of their heads whilst demonstrating how powerful the sword was, the goblins chased him away. Royden returned to Hogwarts and gave the sword to the Headmaster at the time, Cyprian Oldridge.

**Gifford Ollerton (1390-1441)**

Gifford Ollerton was the son of Gilford Ollerton, fourth Headmaster of Hogwarts. In an attempt to bond with his son, Gilford often tried to hang around with him and impress him by jinxing other students. However, Gifford was only ashamed of his father and left Hogwarts early. He became a renowned giant-slayer, killing the famous giant, Hengist of Upper Barnton. However, he was killed when he tried to kill Bran the Bloodthirsty – he 'tried to kill one giant too many,' his father, Gilford, sadly announced to Hogwarts the day after Gifford had died.

**Sachara Slytherin (1399-1456)**

Sachara Slytherin was the great great granddaughter of Salazar Slytherin, but like the rest of her family, she did not discover the Chamber of Secrets and unleash the basilisk. When Sachara's parents died when a Blasting Charm backfired, Sachara became the last descendant of Salazar. Eager to continue the bloodline, she married a pure blood wizard named Henry Gaunt and had several children.

**Yardley Platt (1446-1557)**

Yardley Platt was a Slytherin at Hogwarts and developed a hatred towards goblins after a small goblin rebellion led to his father's death. Platt started killing goblins up and down the country and became known as a famous goblin serial killer. He killed Headmaster of Hogwarts, Alberic Alderton in 1556, thinking him to be a pure goblin. Realising to his horror was he had done, Platt went into hiding for the rest of his life, which didn't last much longer; he was killed by hit wizards from the Wizards' Council a year later.

**Felix Summerbee (1447-1508)**

Felix was well known for not only being the best students at Charms Hogwarts had known up until that point, but also for becoming a Charms teacher in his later life. When he wasn't teaching, he was inventing new charms, his most famous being the Cheering Charm. He came to a rather early demise when he accidentally cheered himself to death when his spell backfired one day – he started laughing so much that he wasn't able to breathe properly.

**Bowman Wright (1492-1560)**

Bowman, who was a Gryffindor during his time at Hogwarts, later combined his love for Quidditch and his metal charming abilities to create a ball that replicated the movements of the Golden Snidget. The ball, the Golden Snitch, quickly replaced the Golden Snidget in the game, and Bowman became famous. However, he killed himself when he accidentally hit himself on the head with a Beaters' bat.

**Gunhilda of Gorsemoor (1556-1639)**

Gunhilda was a one-eyed, hump-backed witch who was thought to be at least half-hag. However, she proved herself to be an excellent witch and later became a Healer at the newly formed St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. She is famous for creating a cure for Dragon Pox, although, ironically, later caught it herself and died. Because of her good-nature and her contributions to magic, a statue of Gunhilda stands on the third floor of Hogwarts.


	5. Chapter 3: Hogwarts from 1600 to 1800

**Chapter Three – **

**Life at Hogwarts: 1600-1800**

Dymphna Smethwyck became the first Headmistress of Hogwarts in 1600 after Havelock Hipsworth accidentally killed himself. She brought about many changes to the school, some of which had positive effects, some of which did not. One of Dymphna's more ingenious contributions to the school was creating a magical quill that could detect the birth of any magical child and giving them a place at Hogwarts. Owls were then sent to the young wizard or witch when they turned eleven, offering them a place at Hogwarts. Dymphna was also responsible for creating the hospital wing after injuries from the Triwizard Tournament reached astronomical levels, as well as creating new staff jobs, such as Gamekeeper, caretaker, nurse and goblin-translator, since Hogwarts still admitted goblins. However, Dymphna tried to get rid of any unnecessary creature within the castle, including the goblins (which led to various riots – see below).

Dymphna also introduced Quidditch to Hogwarts. With the recent invention of the Golden Snitch, which replaced the Golden Snidget, Quidditch games were much more friendly to the environment. Dymphna created a Quidditch pitch in the grounds of the castle, with the four houses playing various games of Quidditch against each other throughout the year in the hope of winning the Quidditch Cup. This, coupled with the continuation of the Triwizard Tournament made Hogwarts even more exciting. However, the tournament were stopped in 1650 after the death toll became unacceptable, with champions rarely living to complete all three tasks. An attempt was made to revive the tournament in 1792, but the cockatrice the champions were supposed to be catching went on a rampage and injured the Headmaster, Norvel Blemish, as well as the heads of both Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Therefore, the Triwizard Tournament was banned, and had only recently, in 1994, been resurrected.

**The Goblin Riots**

Although Headmistress Dymphna Smethwyck originally allowed goblins to enter Hogwarts, she soon became determined to drive them, as well as any other unwanted beings, from the castle. The goblins, of course, did not wish to leave without a fuss. One student writes in his diary the consequences of Dymphna's decision:

_There were goblins tearing down the hallways, firing spells and hexes everywhere; poor Roberto was hit in the face with a Nose Enlargement Curse, and grew a nose so large it dragged him down the marble staircase. I tried to use a Shield Charm to defend myself, but a goblin grabbed me from behind and tried to cram me into a suit of armour; the poltergeist was throwing eggs at everyone; the house elves were trying to tidy up, but the goblins were making mess faster than the elves could clear it up; Professor Smethwyck appeared on the scene and tried to retain order, but a goblin stole her glasses, and in her blindness, walked into a broom cupboard. I think she should go back on her decision to remove the goblins from the castle. They're tearing around the common room as I speak._

Dymphna tried for many years to drive the goblins from the castle, but it was only when the Wizards' Council finally intervened in 1612 and sent officials to Hogwarts that they finally left. However, the goblins refused to give up and regrouped in nearby Hogsmeade, becoming more infuriated when the wizards demanded that the goblins hand over their wands. This started the first of many goblin rebellions throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as the goblins fought for equal rights. The Hog's Head inn in Hogsmeade was used as the headquarters for the goblin rebellion, often striking out at students whenever they came into the village, and cramming Nifflers into Dymphna's office so that they destroyed the room. Thus, to protect against the goblins, officials from the Wizards' Council was placed around Hogsmeade at all times to quell the riots.

The goblin rebellion of 1612 was finally quelled when Dymphna Transfigured the goblin leader, Bodrig, into a newt and fed him to the merpeople. However, other goblin rebellions continued, as the goblins refused to hand over their wands, but in 1631, the Wizards' Council created a decree that banned goblins (and any other non-human creatures) from carrying wands, thus (in wizards' eyes, at least) ending the matter. Dymphna was the one who suggested the decree and threatened every student with a detention if they did not sign to ensure the decree was put forward.

**Notable Teachers and Students**

**Dymphna Smethwyck (1566-1652, Headmistress from 1600-1652)**

Dymphna was the first true Headmistress of Hogwarts and certainly changed how things were ran, introducing many new elements to the school, including a hospital wing and Quidditch pitch. She also strived to drive out any creature from Hogwarts that she didn't see fit to reside in the castle. Her attempts to displace the goblins from Hogwarts resulted in the famous goblin rebellion of 1612, which eventually ended when Dymphna turned the goblin leader into a newt. Dymphna also tried (rather foolishly, it has to be said) to removed Peeves the poltergeist from the castle, believing him to be a nuisance, but nothing she did could get rid of him. Even officials from the Wizards' Council were unable to remove him. Dymphna helped in the creation of the Code of Wand Use Decree of 1631, which prevented all magical beings apart from wizards from carrying wands. When the goblins found out she had done this, they infiltrated the castle, stole her wand and threw her off the Astronomy tower to her death.

**Davlin Fortescue (1612-1714, Headmaster from 1652-1714)**

Davlin became the eighth Headmaster of Hogwarts and was renowned as a 'Muggle lover'. Indeed, Davlin introduced the subject of Muggle Studies to Hogwarts and taught the class himself due to his fascination to how Muggles coped without the help of magic. In the end, though, it was his love for Muggles that killed him; as he was examining a Muggle farm, he prodded a horse in the backside with his wand and it sat on him, killing him.

**Gaspard Grunnion (1516-1603, Headmaster from 1714-1740)**

Gaspard Grunnion was the Potions professor at Hogwarts when he was killed in 1603 after a Scintillating Solution blew up in his face (thanks to a goblin, who had added powdered Graphorn horn to the cauldron when Gaspard wasn't looking). Gaspard continued to reside in Hogwarts as a ghost, though, and when the position of Headmaster became vacant when Fortescue had died, Gaspard was quick to apply. Since no one else wanted to take the job, the school was forced to accept Gaspard as Hogwart's first (and thus far only) ghostly Headmaster. Gaspard did not run the school well, though, and although many other people tried to succeed him as Headmaster and lock him out of the Head Office, Gaspard easily floated through the wall and reassumed command. Gaspard only stepped down as Headmaster when the other ghosts banded together and demanded that he leave Hogwarts. Begrudgingly, this Gaspard did, and was never seen again. He is the only Headmaster who does not have a portrait of themselves in the Head Office, and it is not missed.

**Oswald Bludgeon (1702-1782, Headmaster from 1740-1741)**

Oswald Bludgeon holds the record for the least amount of time a person has been Headmaster or Headmistress of Hogwarts, ruling from December of 1740 to January of 1741, which is less time even than Dolores Umbridge, who was Headmistress of Hogwarts for three months in 1996. He only became Headmaster to win a bet with his best friend, but stepped down quickly after he was flooded with owls from concerned parents who did not believe he had to right attitude to be Headmaster.

**Dilys Derwent (1703-1778, Headmistress from 1741-1768)**

Dilys Derwent attended Hogwarts and was renowned for her healing-related magic. When she left Hogwarts, she became a Healer at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. After that, she returned to Hogwarts in 1941 and took up the position of Headmistress when she was asked, saying she was sick of 'treating patients with trunks for noses'. She became one of Hogwart's most celebrated heads, making Ancient Runes an optional subject in the third year rather than a compulsory one, much to the delight of the students. She decided to step down as Headmistress, however, after only twenty-seven years.

**Norvel Blemish (1721-1801, Headmaster from 1769-1801)**

Norvel became (until Phineas Black became the Headmaster) the most unpopular Headmaster Hogwarts had ever had. He was famous for his strict rules, banning Quidditch because watching it gave him a headache and making sure every class was utterly silent. When he became so unpopular that students threw Dungbombs at him wherever he went, he attempted to resurrect the Triwizard Tournament in 1792 to increase his popularity. However, the cockatrice that everyone was supposed to be catching escaped and injured not only Norvel but the heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang as well. After that, Norvel had the cockatrice executed and remained in his office for the rest of his days, too scared to leave. Indeed, because of the fact he never left his office, it took the rest of the school several days to realise he had died in 1801. He had been scared to death when the portrait of Gilford Ollerton shouted, 'Boo!' at him at high volume.

**Almerick Sawbridge (1602-1699)**

One of the most proficient Care of Magical Creatures students Hogwarts has ever seen, Almerick is famous for conquering a river troll that had been terrorising crossers of the Wye River for years. Though he was known for his bravery, he was terrified of Flobberworms.

**Elladora Ketteridge (1656-1729)**

Elladora was one of Hogwart's most renowned Herbologists when she was there. After she left, she discovered many new species of magical plants and tested their properties by eating them. She discovered Gillyweed and its use after she nearly suffocated eating it, and recovered only when she stuck her head in a bucket of water. She was eaten by a Snargaluff tree when she tried to eat its leaves.

**Edgar Stroulger (1703-1798)**

Edgar Stroulger served as Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts for several years in the mid-1700s. However, he left after a while to invent new items. One of his most prized inventions was the Sneakoscope. However, he stole the ideas and blueprints from a friend of his, Harold Shimpling, and as such, the Sneakoscope (which whistles when it detects someone untrustworthy) always whistled when Edgar was around. Eventually, he became insane from the noise and quickly sold them to the public, never going near another one in his life.

**Alphard Black (1714-1756)**

Alphard Black is the first member of the pure blood Black family to have attended Hogwarts, and was sorted into Slytherin. He did research on the entire history of the Black family and removed anyone who he saw unfit (those that married Muggles, those that were Squibs etc) from the Black family tree, something that his descendants continued for him. He died by accidentally strangling himself in the Black family tree during his haste to remove Belvina Black (a public Muggle lover) from the tree.


	6. Chapter 5: Exploring Hogwarts

**Chapter Five – **

**Exploring Hogwarts and its Grounds**

I, Bathilda Bagshot, have explored Hogwarts quite a lot, especially when I was a student there. However, I wouldn't dream of claiming I had explored _all _of Hogwarts, even in one doesn't count the secret rooms and passageways that exist throughout the castle. Those locations shall be explored in _Chapter 8: Secrets of Hogwarts_, but for now, we shall concentrate on the better-known locales of the castle, working from the dungeons upwards. The descriptions shall be as to how the rooms are seen in the present day, although if they have any noteworthy historic value, I shall, of course, mention that as well. The castle can only be seen by wizards, since it is well-protected by Anti-Muggle charms. Even if a Muggle manages to see what the real school likes like, they won't be able to take photographs of it since the air around Hogwarts is too full of magic for anything electronic to work.

**Dungeons**

The dungeons are found below the castle itself, and although they were once used to punish unruly students (usually by hanging them from their thumbs from the dungeon ceiling), they are now used primarily to teach Potions. However, the Slytherin common room is located here (as Salazar Slytherin himself spent a lot of time in the dungeons), under the lake itself. A password is required to enter the common room, (which is changed regularly, as all passwords in the castle do) and is accessed when a wall slides away.

The kitchens are also located in the dungeons, although in a much more warm, better-lit area. Because the founders of Hogwarts realised that students, if they knew where the kitchens were located, were likely to steal food whenever possible, decided to hide it well. Even to this day, the entrance to the kitchen remains hidden behind a picture of a fruit bowl; only when one tickles the pear at the right place will a door handle appear. The kitchens are, of course, ran by house elves, which prepare all the food for breakfast and various feasts and place them on four long tables to be magically transported up to their counterpart house tables in the Great Hall above. Though over a hundred house elves work in Hogwarts today, there were once a much smaller number. Perhaps the most famous house elf is Hooky, who lived in the fifteenth century and single-handedly prepared the start-of-term feast after all the other house elves had caught dragon pox and become ill. Hooky, however, worked himself to death and a statue of him now stands on the fourth floor.

Also in the dungeons is the Hufflepuff common room. This is mainly because Helga Hufflepuff, who was adept with her food-related charms, liked to be near the kitchens, but also because she was afraid of heights and refused to go further than three floors up.

**Ground Floor**

The Ground Floor, along with the dungeons, has remained relatively unchanged since Hogwarts was first built, and its rooms are not susceptible to the charm Rowena Ravenclaw cast that occasionally causes the rooms and staircases to move around. The Entrance Hall is, of course, the first room one will come across when entering Hogwarts. The giant hourglasses that show many house points each house has reside here, as does the great marble staircase that leads to upper floors.

The Great Hall can be found just off the Entrance Hall, and is where the students and teachers eat their meals, with four long tables (one each for the four houses, and another for the teachers). Originally, the High Table was on the same level as the students' tables, but when the tiny Alberic Alderton (who had goblin blood in him) became Headmaster, the High Table was placed on a raised platform so he could be seen more easily (and even then, he had to sit on a large pile of books). The ceiling is, of course, enchanted to mimic the weather outside, an enchantment first place on the room by Rowena Ravenclaw when Hogwarts was first founded.

Opposite the Great Hall is a corridor with several classrooms are usually unused, the staff room (which is protected by stone gargoyles), as well as the caretaker's office.

**First Floor**

The first floor has many classrooms on it, including the Muggle Study classroom, the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom and the History of Magic classroom. Defence Against the Dark Arts has long since been one of the most popular subjects at Hogwarts, but since 1957, no teacher has ever had the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher post for more than one year, thanks to a curse Lord Voldemort put upon the position after Albus Dumbledore refused him a job at Hogwarts. Therefore, few wizards or witches wanted to teach the subject after a few years if they were offered, realising its poor background.

**Second Floor**

There are various teacher's offices on this floor (including the ones inhabited by the current Defence Against the Dark Arts), as well as Arithmancy and Ancient Runes classrooms, which are, of course, optional subjects students can chose to study in their third year. Arithmancy is the study of determining the magical properties of numbers, particularly the number seven, which is said to be especially magical. Ancient Runes is the study of runes and translating them into English. The entrance to the Headmaster's office is located here as well.

Also of particular note on the second floor is a girls' bathroom that is now very rarely used. It is where a student by the name of Myrtle was killed in 1943 when Tom Riddle (later Lord Voldemort) opened the Chamber of Secrets and unleashed the basilisk. The basilisk killed Myrtle, but she returned as a ghost and still haunts the bathroom in which she died to this day. I attempted to speak to her to learn more information, but she started crying and said I was insensitive so I decided to leave.

**Third Floor**

The third floor contains the Charms classroom (which is one of the oldest subjects at Hogwarts), as well as the trophy room (where any awards students may have received are kept), as well as an armour gallery and a statue of Gunhilda of Gorsemoor, in which there is a secret passageway that leads to Hogsmeade (see _Secrets of Hogwarts_). The third floor is also where the hospital wing is located. It was first added to Hogwarts when injuries from the Triwizard Tournament started getting too high to ignore. It is still used nowadays, but magical catastrophes and Quidditch injuries are still frequent occurrences at the school.

**Fourth Floor**

There are some unused classrooms on the fourth floor, as well as a passageway that leads out of Hogwarts; however, in recent years, it seems to have been blocked off. The library is also found on the fourth floor, and contains literally thousands of the books (including, I hope, the one you are reading now). Hogwarts has had a long history of librarians being very protective of their books, often placing enchantments and spells on them so they can't be stolen, desecrated or befouled in any way. The Restricted Section of the library was added in the 1800s to place books about the Dark Arts and very powerful magic; this was to prevent students getting wrong ideas about the Dark Arts or from performing illegal spells or concocting illicit potions within the school. Eating has been banned from the library ever since 1837, when a wand backfired and splattered food all over the H-J bookshelf, ruining dozens of books.

**Fifth Floor**

As well as several offices being located on the fifth floor (including the Arithmancy teacher's office), there is also the prefects' bathroom, which is accessible only by prefects, since only they know the password. It is very extravagant, comprised of a huge bath sunk into the floor. I myself happened to spend a lot of my time in here when I was a prefect at Hogwarts, although I was often distracted by an annoying and suggestive painting of a mermaid on the wall. Several statues can be found on this floor, such as the statue of Gregory the Smarmy, behind which a secret passageway out of Hogwarts can be found.

**Sixth Floor**

The Ancient Runes' teacher's office is located on the sixth floor, as can the Transfiguration classroom. Transfiguration was first taught at Hogwarts by Walter Kettlebridge in 1430, and has been quite a popular subject since then. Many of the Transfiguration teachers have been Animagi.

**Seventh Floor**

The seventh floor is home to the entrances of both the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw common room and dormitories, which are both found in towers. The Gryffindor common room is guarded by a portrait of the Fat Lady; the Ravenclaw common room is guarded by a portrait of the Thin Lady; they are said to be sisters, although neither have confirmed it. The Room of Requirements (see _Secrets of Hogwarts_) is also on the seventh floor, as is the office of the Charms teacher.

The Divination classroom entrance is located on the seventh floor as well, it being one of the last additions to the castle in the early 1800s. Divination is the art of foreseeing future events, although it is a very imprecise and sketchy branch of magic; very few people have the Inner Eye and are truly able to predict the future. It therefore has the lowest pass success rating of all the subjects in Hogwarts, and on more than one occasion, the Divination teacher as well has been found to be a fraud.

**Towers**

There are several towers at Hogwarts, including the Gryffindor tower, the Ravenclaw tower, the North Tower, which comprises of the Divination classroom (see above) and the West Tower, which is where the owlery is located. The owlery has been at Hogwarts for hundreds of years, and is where the Hogwarts owls reside for the majority of the time. Owls that belong to students often rest here as well. The Astronomy tower is the tallest tower and is where students study Astronomy at night.

The Headmaster's office is also located in a tower, although its entrance is many floors below. It is the home of the current Headmaster or Headmistress, and is protected by a stone gargoyle. The walls of the office are covered in the portraits of all of the previous Headmasters and Headmistresses, and are honour-bound to assist the previous Headmaster or Headmistress in times of trouble or need. The office was constructed by Damocles Philpott as the first Headmaster and constructed a large brass doorknob in the shape of a griffin because he had been a Gryffindor when he had attended Hogwarts. For many years, the Sorting Hat and Gryffindor's sword (both relics of Godric) have been kept in the Headmaster's office.

**The Grounds**

Hogwarts has large expansive lawns that stretch down to the Forbidden Forest. It is, of course, hidden from Muggle eyes, so that if a Muggle starts to come anywhere near the grounds, all they will see in a mouldy old ruin with a sign that says, 'DANGER, DO NOT ENTER, UNSAFE.' It has several greenhouses, where students can study Herbology, the gamekeeper's cabin, and, since quite recently, the Whomping Willow. The Whomping Willow was added to Hogwarts in 1971 to disguise a secret passageway from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade so that it wouldn't be found by students. It was used primarily by Remus Lupin, a werewolf, who went into the passage every month before he transformed so that he couldn't hurt anyone else.

The lake is another prominent feature of Hogwarts' grounds. It is very vast and deep and inhabited by a variety of creatures. The most well-known is the giant squid, which was added to the lake in 1470 by Walter Kettlebridge, intended to rescue any students who may have ran afoul of the merpeople that also inhabit the lake. In truth, though, the merpeople have lived in the lake for much longer. They are selkies, and maintain a small community at the very depths of the lake, having been apparently stranded there thousands of years ago. They very rarely come to the surface of the lake and are usually cruel to humans; an exception was in 1995, where they allowed students to dive into the lake during the second task of the Triwizard Tournament. Grindylows (small water demons) also inhabit the lake, and are sometimes used as pets by the merpeople. The merpeople often chase away the giant squid whenever it gets too close to their settlement.

However, perhaps the most visited feature of Hogwarts grounds is the Quidditch pitch. Although it was transformed into a maze for the third task of the Triwizard Tournament in 1995, it is almost always used to play Quidditch. It was first built in 1614, and has been used every year to host the Quidditch Cup since then. There has only ever been one reported death of a student playing Quidditch at Hogwarts. His name was Edgar Clogg, and was killed when two Bludgers hit him at the same time, knocking him off his broom, plummeting to his death. This happened in 1770 when Norvel Blemish was Headmaster; he used Edgar's death as an excuse to ban Quidditch, although it was really because watching it gave him headaches. The ghost of Edgar Clogg still haunts the Quidditch pitch to this day.

_(Those of you noticed Chapter 4 is missing, it's because I've lost it. I'll try and find it as soon as possible, and if not, I'll have to rewrite it.)_


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